New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A former Army sergeant is facing conspiracy charges in a federal sting operation that focused on a team he allegedly supervised in what the team thought was international drug trafficking and planned killings , according to the U.S. attorney in Manhattan .

Joseph Hunter , 48 , led a `` security team '' of former soldiers from around the world to assist people he believed were Colombian narcotic traffickers , federal authorities allege . In fact , the `` traffickers '' were U.S. informants , according to federal authorities .

Hunter , along with Timothy Vamvakias , 42 , an American who also served in the U.S. Army ; Dennis Gogel , 27 , a German national who served in the German armed forces ; and two other men acted as the security team that surveyed the transportation of what they believed to be illegal drugs by Colombian dealers . The men acted as `` contract killers '' who planned to eliminate anyone who threatened the drug trade -- including law enforcement agents , a press release from the U.S. attorney 's office said .

Specifically , authorities said in a Friday news release that the men planned an assassination in Liberia `` for a six-figure payday , '' targeting a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent and a person purportedly cooperating with the DEA . The killings apparently never took place .

Hunter , Vamvakias and Gogel are each charged with separate counts of conspiracy to murder a law enforcement agent , conspiracy to kill a person to prevent communications to law enforcement , conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States , and other drug and gun related charges , according to federal documents . Each count carries a maximum penalty of life in prison .

The story as spelled out in a federal indictment starts in early 2012 when Hunter believed he had made contact with Colombian drug traffickers .

Hunter recruited a team of four individuals to assist the `` drug traffickers '' he had met , collecting his alleged team members ' resumes via e-mail , the indictment said . Hunter told his men that they could expect to see `` tons of cocaine and millions of dollars , '' according to the indictment .

The men Hunter thought were Colombian traffickers `` were in fact confidential sources for the DEA , '' according to the indictment .

`` Hunter spoke with the -LRB- confidential sources -RRB- about serving as the head of security for the ... purported Colombian drug trafficking operation , and Hunter provided ... resumes for the individuals he had selected as prospective members of the security team , '' the indictment said .

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From there , the indictment tells a complex story that Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara compared to the work of a well-known spy novelist .

`` The bone-chilling allegations in today 's Indictment read like they were ripped from the pages of a Tom Clancy novel , '' Bharara said Friday . `` The charges tell a tale of an international band of mercenary marksmen who enlisted their elite military training to serve as hired guns for evil ends . ''

The indictment details how the defendants traveled to various countries in Asia , Africa and the Caribbean and met with the government 's confidential sources -- apparently the same unidentified sources Hunter believed to be Colombian traffickers -- as they allegedly discussed various criminal enterprises . The meetings were recorded by the informants , according to the indictment .

There are references to talks among the alleged team members about `` bonus work , '' which Hunter explained meant assassinations , the indictment said .

`` Hunter explained that he had in fact previously committed acts of violence for pay -- including , among other things , arranging for the murders of two female real estate agents , '' the indictment said .

But the indictment did not elaborate on those purported killings or say where or when they supposedly took place .

Bharara said at a news conference Friday that those two killings claimed by Hunter in his talks occurred outside the United States and `` there is corroboration for the allegations in the indictment . '' He did not elaborate beyond that statement .

The group 's work with the confidential informants took them to Thailand , where in late March , according to the indictment , the team provided `` counter-surveillance '' to make sure local officials did not know about boats that were being loaded with what team members believed to be cocaine . A similar scenario played out in the Bahamas in late June , with the team -- again working with the government 's informants -- providing surveillance during the loading of an airplane with what they thought was cocaine , according to the indictment .

The alleged plan to kill a DEA agent and a `` snitch '' was elaborate , the indictment said , including meetings in multiple countries with the actual killing to take place in Liberia -- chosen so their passports would not be stamped . According to the indictment , the men requested several guns , including submachine guns , pistols and silencers , as well as latex face masks that would make them appear to be of a different race .

Hunter was arrested in Thailand and was expected to arrive in New York on Friday evening . He is expected to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge in Manhattan federal court Saturday .

Vamvakias and Gogel , who also were arrested abroad , were brought to New York and were in court Thursday afternoon .

The two other men involved in the scheme were arrested on Wednesday in Estonia at the request of the United States .

According to the indictment , Hunter served in the U.S. Army from 1983 to 2004 , attaining the rank of sergeant first class . He led multiple squads , served as a sniper instructor and trained soldiers in marksmanship

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CNN 's Lorenzo Ferrigno reported from New York , Monte Plott wrote from Atlanta , and Yon Pomrenze in New York contributed .

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NEW : Leader believed contacts were Colombian dealers ; they were U.S. informants , feds say

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A federal sting operation leads to the arrest of former soldiers

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Two had served in the U.S. Army

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U.S. attorney : `` The charges tell a tale of an international band of mercenary marksmen ''